1997 Barolo Vigna Rionda Riserva
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Tasting notes
At nearly 30 years of age, the 1997 Barolo Riserva Vigna Rionda is now fully mature. Tobacco, dried herbs, cedar, worn-in leather and baking spices reinforce that first impression. Today, the 1997 is a mid-weight, open Barolo that is peaking, although it has held up well past my original drinking window. I would prefer to drink it over the next handful of years.
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Average Score
Robert Parker
Jancis Robinson MW
More reviews and scores
Massolino's 1997 Barolo Riserva Vigna Rionda is flat-out beautiful. Rich and powerful, yet also impeccably layered in the glass, the 1997 remains quite fresh and super-expressive. Ripe, silky tannins convey elegance in a Rionda that should drink well for a number of years. Rionda is an utterly magical, seductive vineyard. This is a great example that captures so much of Rionda's allure.
The 1997 Barolo Riserva Vigna Rionda is a beautiful wine to enjoy today, as it is just entering the early part of its drinking window. Made in the sweet, expansive style that is typical of the vintage, it reveals ripe fruit, leather, earthiness, menthol, smoke and roasted coffee beans, with superb concentration allied to structure.
The 1997 Barolo Riserva Vigna Rionda, from one of Barolo’s great vineyards, shows all the intensity one might expect. The powerfully alcoholic rose petal, anisette, and kirsch aromas are matched by equally potent flavors, a densely packed extract, strapping but supple, with a richness and a velvet which are out of the common. Anticipated maturity: 2006-2025. A Leonardo Locascio Selection, Winebow, Hohokus, NJ; tel. (201) 445-0620